Road trip to Lompoc 2.0
Take 2 - Redesigning to add more pictures to the email news letter. Seems simple, and it’s not hard, but does require using a completely different way to display images in the blog. Also learning that sections that look great in the blog, don’t translate to email.
Saw an Instagram reel for a localish brewery I had never been to. COLD Coast is located in Lompoc CA about 60 miles south of me. Lompoc is better known for Vandenberg Space Force Base. The name still kills me, but here we are. More interestingly, it’s where many of the SpaceX launches take place. A Falcon 9 launched as I was walking around. An impressive rumble shook the town. The view would have been impressive as well had it not been for the marine layer.
Lompoc is also where we rescued Murphy in March 2011. She hated car rides and I never thought about taking her to a brewery. Fast forward a year or two and going for a car ride to a brewery became her absolutely favorite activity!
Back to beer… COLD Coast.. COLD coming from the first letter of the founders last names. And, being on the coast, it gets cold at night. The beers were very good. Two flights and I tried them all. Two light weight English beers were my favorite. A welcome change in the land of high octane hazy IPAs.
Flights saw away, it was time to walk around town and take some pictures. Brought my Fuji X100V. It’s small retro looking digital camera that can, sometimes, if I get it right, take amazing pictures. For nailing the shot, I still prefer my Sony cameras. But folks love the look of the Fuji which is a huge help when shoot around people. They tend to be more willing to be part of the moment than shy away from a big camera and lens.
I’m too lazy to take a picture of my camera, so here’s a stock photo of the X100V sort of in action.
Provia 100F simulation at F5.6, I love the colors of this film simulation, but need to remember to increase exposure compensation to +2/3 or 1. I wish you could change that in the settings, but it’s a manual thing. Using this camera gives me a lot of respect for film photographers. They wouldn’t know they forgot to change a setting until days after the big wedding…. Yes, this is fixable in post, but the idea of this camera is to produce great images without editing. Guess I’ll keep practicing or stop tasting beer before each shoot. 🤔 Probably best to practice more after 🍺.
Lompoc
A town of murals connected by liminal spaces.
Literally, all these photos taken with in a few blocks or each other. Amazing art connected by vacant parking lots and narrow alleys.
Drink of the week 🥃
On a random walkabout SLO, edited up at Koberl at Blue. Interesting yet entirely too intense conversation with a bar stool neighbor. It felt like the end of the world… made my beer selection easy.
Supporting the local Irish pub turned into supporting a local Lyft driver. No complaints, never a dull moment at McCarthy’s 🍻. Besides, look at those colors!
What’s next?
Last time on “What’s next”… “Just about down shooting 4 rolls of film on my Holga and Vivatar 35mm. Took 24 of 36 shots of Ilford Ortho BW ISO 80. Super slow film and I shot hand held in a 30 year old point and shoot. Should be interesting…” Some progress… first I either miscounted or lost a roll. Drop 3 rolls off in the mail. Now we wait…
I’ve also been testing a GoPro mount for my car, so hope to get more “on the road’ video for my next road trip.
Question for the beta testers! 2.0!
Question take 2 - Added more pictures… Now I’m wondering if I should balance it with maybe 5 favorites and a gallery for those who want to see more? Thanks for the feedback!
Square space has a map widget. Works great on the site, but doesn’t translate to the email 😔. Replaced it with an image. Thoughts?
Did you follow the link to the full Lompoc gallery? Trying to decide if it’s better to include a few more images in the email or assume people will follow the link to see more pictures. Let me know in the comments! (hate saying that, but the feedback helps!)